By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com
When classes resumed this week, Lincoln County school administrators faced the unprecedented situation of hoping they have enough employees to keep the operation running.
That’s primarily because the county’s public schools are groaning beneath the weight of severe, pandemic-related staffing shortages that has teachers and administrators scrambling every day to patch gaping holes. While the same situation is occurring in schools across Oregon and the nation, a rural, coastal school district has fewer people to draw from. The district already cancelled classes the day after Veterans Day, at a cost of $130,000, because it lacked substitutes and to give employees four days off.
So, administrative assistants are driving school buses, principals are popping into classrooms in their new role of substitute teachers, and the district is offering referral bonuses to anyone who can find a qualified recruit to help almost anywhere.
And those are just a few examples of how LCSD teachers and administrators are trying to make school as normal as possible during a pandemic now stretching well into its second year.
“Things are significantly worse now than they were when Covid shut everything down in March 2020,” Tiana Tucker, the district’s human resources director, said in an interview with YachatsNews. “Now that all students are all back in school every day, we are really feeling the effects of these shortages.”
The district has 310 licensed (teachers, counselors, specialists and administrators) and 260 classified (classroom aides, tutors, office assistants) employees.
The district currently has 60 unfilled classified positions, said Tucker, who noted that these spots, while not licensed positions, can still require highly specialized skills.
“We’re talking about special education and bilingual tutors and teaching assistants,” she said. “And most of them are dealing with vulnerable populations and second languages.”
Of the district’s 12 schools, 11 currently have no special education teachers. Six of those educators resigned since the school year started in September. Making matters worse, there currently are no applicants for those positions.
Shortages touch nearly every aspect of the district’s ability to function normally. Since September, for instance, nine classified staff have quit.
In addition, the district’s relatively young teaching population has translated to a total of 16 staff members now out on maternity leave to care for 12 new babies.
The same general lack of daycare options throughout the county, meanwhile, is also affecting teachers trying to secure care for their own children. In Newport alone, the wait list to secure daycare now numbers 17.
Sodexo, the district’s contractor for food service, and First Student, the district’s contractor for transportation, have been scrambling all year to find enough employees.
Battling over development time
Then there is the additional friction between the teachers union and district leaders over the issue of professional development.
Negotiations between the two sides are ongoing, with teachers saying that in this time of crisis, every hour of the school day should be devoted to helping students thrive academically and emotionally, rather than being required to spending parts of each Wednesday engaging in professional development tasks.
Administration and teachers union representatives met privately last Wednesday, but it appears the side are still far apart.
“I’d say that negotiations right now are tenuous,” said union president Peter Lohonyay. “It’s just super hard in all of our schools right now and we think the best thing we can be doing with our time to helping our students.”
The administration, for its part, wants to stick to a policy underscoring the idea that professional development is an important part of any teachers’ weekly routine.
“Our teachers have not said they don’t want any professional development or evaluations,” Tucker said. “They’ve just asked us to ease up a little bit, and we have been responsive to that.”
In an effort aimed at increasing total staffing numbers, the district has signed a “memorandum of understanding” with its classified employees that includes various cash incentives, Tucker said. Longevity bonuses of $250 are being offered, for instance, to staff with at least 90 percent attendance since school started. A similar bonus will be paid for similar attendance from January until the end of the year.
Referral bonuses will also be paid to classified staff members who recruit qualified substitutes who end up teaching at least 50 days, Tucker said.
“I want to recognize our staff for the great work they are doing,” she said. “And we are hoping these incentives might help do that, as well.”
Toughness, tenacity
For Mike Gass, the principal at Crestview Heights School in Waldport, the challenges facing every school in the district are daunting. But he praised district teachers and staff members for the toughness and tenacity he said they show every day.
“In the best of times this can be a tough business,” said Gass, who came to Lincoln County after a 30-year career as a district superintendent in Colorado, only to plunge back into the profession as a principal in Waldport. “But the super dedication I see from all of our folks is just truly impressive.”
Gass, like all other district administrators, is regularly is in the classroom these days, helping fill the district’s depleted substitute ranks.
“You can either sit back and direct air traffic,” he said, “or be part of the team. And that’s what is really driving all of us right now. It’s a team effort.”
- Dana Tims is an Oregon freelance writer who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. He can be reached at DanaTims24@gmail.com